I managed to make a lot of progress this week, but theres a few parts still missing before I show off the finished center console.
I started by replacing all the bulbs in the gauge cluster with Blue LED's from
www.superbrightleds.com, I ran into some trouble that I was unaware of. I thought it was a simple plug and play procedure, but I ended up needing to take apart the bulb assembly, dropping in the LED's and re-sottering the new LED's into the base.
Factory bulb assembly:
Factory bulb vs. LED's:
Finished product:
Next I popped off the needles and laid down a silver over-lay kit from Hawks. I took off the needles from the gauge assembly and used Dupli-Color interior paint and painted the caps semi-gloss black, then began sanding off the white/yellow base of the needles to produce a clear effect. In order for the Blue LED's to shine through the needle I painted the back with silver paint to give the needles a clear/silver appearance on the silver gauges.
I also decided to keep my bolt-in roll bar that was in rough shape and needed a new coat of paint so I went with a Rust-oleum "Soft Iron"
It is a self priming paint and I laid it down thick and it turned out really good!
Spray-can restoration at its best!